Transparency

I have written before about the topic of transparency – what is the appropriate definition and execution of transparency. I focused on the issue of trust. The real point is to gain and keep the trust of your customers.

I regularly read Penelope Trunk, The Brazen Careerist’s blog. She can be very controversial – I get that. So if you are a Penelope hater, I apologize if what she says in the blog I am referring to offends you. My intention is not to offend, but to explore the topic further.

She stated: transparency is about doing good. While I don’t think every company will adopt this viewpoint, I found it a refreshing perspective. Being transparent just to help yourself, is just helping yourself. The point, she says, is to use transparency to help others. And in a world of corporate responsibility, I think the concept is that when you do the right thing and tell people about it, you will be rewarded in the end.

She also asserted: transparency has a goal of kindness. Transparency is not a carte blanche to disregard peoples’ feelings in the name of truth. In fact, that is not transparency, that again is just serving yourself. She gives a counter example of a college situation that appeared to be an effort in fairness and transparency, but was really a veiled attempt at witch hunting. You can see the details in the blog – it is a pretty sad story.

So before your company adopts the “trend” of transparency, I think you need to have some guidelines and do some hard soul searching – both on a personal and corporate level. And these 2 ideas are not bad ones to use as you start your exploration.